Field manual · 2016 · written with the Officers’ League, Ukraine

Biofeedback and Resonance Breathing for Military Professionals

How to prepare soldiers for extreme stress, help them recover after it, and do it with very little time and very few psychologists.

André Fleshel. In 2014–2016 I trained Ukrainian Army psychologists and medical staff in crisis intervention and trauma support through the Officers’ League. This manual came out of that work.

Why biofeedback works for soldiers

• It takes little time. 5–10 minutes, 2–4 times a week. Two to four weeks of training give a lasting result.
• It works without taking people off duty.
• It doesn’t need a highly qualified professional. Fellow veterans, medics, chaplains can be trained as instructors, and soldiers learn to use it on their own. Psychologists are expensive, they spend hours on the road, and there are never enough of them.
• Men trust a sensor more than a drawing of a mandala. A number on a screen is not “talking about feelings”.
• It doesn’t make anyone a patient. In rehabilitation it often raises interest in the program and keeps people going from recovery to further growth.
• Easy reporting. The device records the progress.

Where to use it

1. Preparation and recovery. Stress resilience training before extreme load, restoring capacity after it, prevention of PTSD and other effects of traumatic events.
2. Marksmanship. Snipers, spotters, gunners, dispatchers: anyone whose hands and attention must stay steady under pressure.
3. Rehabilitation of combat veterans and civilians caught in the combat zone.
4. High-pressure professions: special services, command staff, negotiators, emergency services, athletes.

What training changes: memory, concentration and problem solving improve; stress symptoms go down (muscle spasms, pain, dizziness, nausea, numbness, poor sleep and appetite); teamwork gets better and destructive competition drops; family relationships often improve.

What the research says

Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects how well a person adapts to change and recovers after stress, and the balance of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. Training HRV goes together with lower cortisol.

Arpi Minassian, PhD (UC San Diego), followed more than two thousand US Marines. Those whose HRV was below average before deployment came back with PTSD much more often than those with average or high HRV. Gabriel Tan, PhD, and colleagues confirmed that veterans with PTSD have low HRV, and, more important, that biofeedback training can raise it, reduce PTSD symptoms and build adaptability. Similar work has been done with soldiers and police in the USA, Israel, India, Denmark and Australia.

Research also points to new possibilities: predicting how a person will cope with their survival reactions in an extreme situation, building that capacity, coping with delayed post-traumatic reactions (avoidance, aggression, panic attacks, derealization, flashbacks) and resisting alcohol and drug dependence.

Resonance breathing

Psychophysiologists found, with instruments and lab measurements, a breathing pattern that raises HRV. It activates the vagus nerve, which is responsible for relaxation and recovery, and lowers cortisol. The heart “resonates” with the breath, hence the name. The effect of one practice lasts for hours. Practiced every 4–5 hours for 3–4 weeks, it often helps people recover from delayed traumatic reactions.

Running a group session

Everyone sits. The size of the group doesn’t matter much.

1. A short talk about stress reactions, dissociation, combat stress, trauma and PTSD.
2. Explain the physiology of resonance breathing.
3. Breathe together for 1–3 minutes. The trainer calls out inhale and exhale, ideally with a metronome or a sound every 5 seconds. Encourage people, ask what they notice, invite them to keep going until the first body reactions: muscles relaxing, warmth, tingling, slight dizziness. Engage the passive ones. The first time, don’t push past discomfort.
4. Some people can’t take a long inhale or exhale: suppressed fear and anger tighten the diaphragm and chest muscles. Explain this. Suggest yawning (it spreads through the group), or start with 2 seconds in and 2 out, then 3, 4, 5.
5. Breathe for five minutes without stopping. The trainer breathes audibly with the metronome and, without breaking the rhythm, shows people what to relax: face, neck, jaw; breathe with the belly, ribs and upper chest.
6. Discuss what people felt. Add the physiology. Encourage practice three times a day for 3–4 weeks, and talk about when to use it. A full 5 minutes in stressful situations.
7. Variations: 4/6 (4 in, 6 out) for deeper relaxation and better sleep in the evening; 6/4 for mobilization, energy and mood in the morning. Try both and compare.
8. Sum up and give recommendations.

Safety

Watch body language. A gaze frozen for several seconds, other freezing reactions, breathing that speeds up and becomes jerky, a head that drops slightly, shining eyes: these can be the start of dissociation, abreaction, or a wave of fear or rage. They are not rare in breathing practices. Speak to the person directly, by name, and describe what you see: “Igor, your gaze froze, your shoulders tensed, your fists clenched.” Sometimes it’s enough to relax and continue; sometimes stop and name the thoughts, feelings or memories that came up. Act within your competence. If psychotic reactions appear and you are not trained for them, follow your program’s crisis protocol. Breathing methods can trigger relapse of existing psychotic disorders.

Marksmanship

Learn resonance breathing before range training, preferably with a biofeedback device, so the soldier sees his HRV rise and learns to feel that state. Then: one 5-minute cycle sitting, and a 3–5 minute cycle in the firing position right before shooting.

Individual therapy and counseling

Teach the client resonance breathing and start each session with a 3–5 minute cycle. It helps the client relax and, at the same time, focus on what matters and say what they want from the meeting faster.

© André Fleshel and the Officers’ League, 2016. English version 2026. This manual is for trained professionals and instructors. It does not replace medical or psychiatric care.